Gran Turismo easily could have gone the way of Shaquille O'Neal. Arguably the greatest racing franchise of all-time, GT could have rested on its laurels, packed on 30 pounds of whale lubber, and lost the title. But Gran Turismo is more like Barry Bonds - it just gets better with age. After introducing the perfect racing formula in the original GT, delivering more of everything in the sequel, and adding unparalleled visuals in GT3, what's left to prove?

If you want to remain king of the hill, quite a bit, actually. For one, the game will feature online play for up to six human competitors. No matter how good the AI gets, it never matches the thrill of racing against real people, and it never breaks down in tears when your winning streak hits 14. Actual details about the online play are more closely guarded than the candy bars in Tom Arnold's fridge, but in any event this is a welcome addition.

"The sunlight you see in GT4 is essentially the sunlight you see when you go outside - it's been a while, but we still remember what it looks like."

The Gran Turismo series was never one to skimp on car selection, and the fourth installment offers more cars than Lee Iacocca. The grand total will surpass 500 vehicles, and will include an eclectic selection ranging from early racecars to the latest street rockets.

GT4 looks so much better than its predecessor. The car models are fairly similar to those in GT3 (absolutely gorgeous), but the environments and lighting have improved noticeably. The roadside monuments seem fuller, and the textures are sharper and more detailed.

The lighting is stunningly realistic. This is not the quasi-realistic lens flare lighting that looks neat but totally unlike anything in the natural world. The sunlight you see in GT4 is essentially the sunlight you see when you go outside - it's been a while, but we still remember what it looks like. It's soft and dazzling at the same time. It glints perfectly on smooth metal surfaces and casts just the right shimmer on the sun-baked pavement.

In short, GT4 looks better than GT3 and the game still has several months to slow-roast in the development oven. If they can just pull a David Copperfield on those nasty jaggies, which are prominent on many displays, GT4 will be comfortably the best-looking racer of all-time.

When it comes to gameplay, the motto is, "If it's damn near perfect, don't fix it." No one is bringing a brush within shouting distance of the Mona Lisa, and Polyphony Digital will not tamper much with their winning formula.

There are changes, to be sure, but they are subtle refinements to the existing simulation masterpiece. The physics are better than ever before, with a convincing imposition and manipulation of vehicle weight and momentum. If there are more realistic handling physics in a game, we will eat our livers with some fava beans.

Once again, the driving engine is less forgiving than a Catholic schoolteacher with a bad case of hemorrhoids. Real cars don't cut a 90 degree turn at 115 mph, and neither do the cars in GT4.

Our own experience was even less forgiving than usual because we road-tested the game with a force-feedback steering wheel. The wheel was a gem by home peripheral standards, but it still did not afford the precision granted by the dualshock controller.

As a result, we looked like Ray Charles behind the wheel. The car - a Subaru WRX - handled with precision, but we were running it precisely off the road. Fortunately, for people like us, GT4 serves up some training wheels in the form of ASM (Assisted Stability Management), which cuts down on skids, and TCS (Traction Control System), which reduces spin-outs.

The AI of your computer opponents is both more and less merciful than before. More merciful in that opposing cars are less likely to hammer you going into turns or rough up your racing lines. Less merciful in that players will always have an opponent nipping at their heels.

In other words, the days of dusting the computer by 30 seconds are long gone. This sounds suspiciously like the dreaded rubber band AI seen in arcade racers like San Francisco Rush 2049, but we have faith Polyphony Digital will implement it properly.

In fact, we expect just about everything to be implemented properly. The only big question is whether GT4 will offer enough improvements for those who played the previous games until their fingers bled. Only time will tell, but smart money says the answer will be "hell, yes."

Gran Turismo 4Video 2 (320x240)The warm-up video shown at Sony's conference, showing the history of the series, clips of the making of GT4, and some GT4 clips also. Difficult to tell the rel-life clips from the game clips!

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